Water conservation has become one of the most significant problems of the modern era. Frequent shortages of rainfall across many parts of the United States in the past, have occasioned increased awareness of the need for water conservation.
The problem of improper and overuse of the fresh water supply of the United States has merely been compounded by the significant increase in population of the United States in the past two decades. Considering this increase in population, those areas of the country with some of the most acute water shortage problems have grown the fastest in population.
It is particularly in those areas where population has increased the most, where the general population has been most sensitive to the need for new and improved devices for saving water. But unfortunately, some of the most common everyday activities for most people require the most water. For example, toilets and showers consume more water than any other devices in the home. Although the public is aware of the need for water conservation, public support for environmental programs has grown steadily through the years.
In the past, Various means have been employed to reduce the consumption of water in toilets and showers. In particular, in the case of toilets, various valves and flotation devices have been installed in order to raise the water level. The rising of the water level permits toilets to consume less water each time they are flushed.
In a similar manner, flow restrictors have been developed for insertion into shower heads, which restrict the amount of water a shower utilizes. While such techniques and devices help save water, such shower flow restrictors only save a small quantity of water as the discharge from the shower head is irretrievably lost as it gushes down the drain. Thus, while such restrictors enhance conservation, they are not entirely adequate to meet the requirements in some areas of the country where clearly significantly less water consumption is required.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved water savings apparatus and method of using the same in the shower, which would be relatively inexpensive and easy to install and which would allow the saving of large quantities of water utilized for shower purposes.